DURGA PUJA CELEBRATION IN KOLKATA.

Bengali 's and kolkata  are both attached too Durga puja celebrations.....until one get to experience the festivities in kolkata,  one cannot feel the vibe. ...
During  the month of Sept end/ oct beginning  , Navratri or Durga puja  is celebrated across India and now abroad too wherever Indian r residing .....But the flavour of Durga Puja celebration can only be felt in kolkata particular in the state of West Bengal ...From almost June the planning and construction of pandals starts these days . Traditional household too bring in mother goddess Durga for pujas at home besides the local clubs where it's more commercialised. ....In recent years ,  the local govt of Bengal is trying to give it a Carnival look totally but this idea is not that much welcomed amongst bengalis. ...We bengalis prefer the traditional ritual and prayers rather ..
Though Navratri is a 9 days celebration of Mother Goddess Durga which starts soon after Mahalaya, which is consider as the beginning of Devi paksha. ....But Durga puja  starts only from Shasti.ie from the 6th day of Navratri celebration. ..On shasti evening the banana tree  called kalabow  is prayed  and idol bodhan ie face is opened for all to see .....
The main Durga puja starts from 7th day ie Saptami. ...During Durga puja  besides ma Durga all her 4 kids ie laxmi , Saraswati, kartik and Ganesh  is prayed together ...it is considered that ma Durga along with her kids visit her parents home from kailash mountain in the Himalayas, which is considered home of shiva ie ma Durga ' s husband's place ......
Besides chanting of mantras, slokas by the panditji and all other rituals ,  the beating of the drum or the Dhak and kasha, and the Aarti  performed by the pujari or panditji turns the whole atmosphere vibrant with happiness. ....ladies and gentlemen, kids and old , everyone tries to come forth in new clothes and it make the surrounding so beautiful. ...
On Ashtami ie the 8th day the puja is bit elaborative  with lots of rituals  , and Kumari puja and Bhog distribution. ...Every Bengali waits for their Bhog ( rice and lentils preparation ) that's offered to Ma Durga first   ....it's damme tasty ....once someone get a taste of it will wait a long year for the next celebration. .....Evening mostly people prefers pandal hopping around the city all night , fun time with friends and relatives ......
Nabami morning ie the 9th day of Navratri or 3rd day of Durga Puja,  the celebrations reach its peak. ....Generally the rituals starts off very early morning. ...108 lotus flowers are offered to Ma Durga on this day,so women gets up early to bloom up the lotus buds ,  which is truely a art to witness. ....After the puja and pushpanjali  ,  Sandhi pujo starts ....followed by haven or homme .....it is something to be revered. ....these rituals will simply turn anyone watching to some other world and  connect one's soul Almighty Father .....By evening ,  it's starts to turn glummy as by next mother the festivities see a end and a long 365 days wait again for next festival of Durgoutsav. ...so people prefer to enjoy all evening with lots of yummy foods, pandal hopping and loads of fun ....the whole city of kolkata  bears a totally different look as if the whole city is awake all night before the next break of dawn. ..people sing and dance , and make merry   ...it's just a happy time to be part of it ....
On Dasami ie 10 th day or last day of Durga Puja celebration  , mother goddess is offered Panta bhaat or water mixed rice with kachur saaj  and jora puti fish before she leaves for her abode of kailash mountain. ...Evening it's the immersion of the idol in the ganges , before which women applies Sindoor to idol of Durga and then on other women folks gathered in the ocassion. .this is mostly known as Sindoor  khela, a happy way to bid Ma Durga farewell  followed by misti mukh ie sweets. .....next 15 days it's only greeting of bijoya and sweets that becomes part of every bengalis life......

My WAYANAD STORY. .series 3.

Yesterday was very tiring ....it's 14th March 2017 and our trip to Wayanad is almost to its end ....I am sure this place will be just wonderful in the rains .....Before we left our resort , I just wanted to check out the 2 tree houses in that resort ....oh ,  it's very well furnished and would be a great experience to stay a night on the top of a tree ....maybe next time we will plan it out that way.....After breakfast,  we headed for Pookat lake before we moved out of Wayanad towards Kozikode. ....oh , it's a beautiful cozy location. ..Lots of hotels & resorts around ....boating facilities are available too but we had no time , only walked around and did a bit shopping for some local produces. ........
It's now a long drive and we were excited as we had booked a stay at Raviz resort and spa, kadavu  ......

My WAYANAD STORY. ...series 2.

It's the morning of 13th Mar 2017....woke up to a very chilling morning at Vythiri. ..with a cup of tea , I sat in our villa balcony to admire the surrounding freshness , which we miss in our city life at mumbai....Today's agenda was to go for local sightseeing around Wayanad, Sultan bathery and also visit KURUVA ISLAND, 17kms east of Mananthavady....
    So had to get ready by 9.30am  and head off towards BANASURA DAM , which is Asia's 2nd largest earth Dam....on our way we stop over at the tea estate for few photoshots. .....By the time we reached Banasura dam site , sun was almost on top ....Hardly did we feel like walking up to the top of the Dam ....so took paid vehicle to reach the top...it's really very beautiful. ....but didnot opt for those speedboat rides in its waters as we had a packed plan for the day ....one need to carry their sun gear aswell water & snacks....After spending sometimes there we just wanted to get back to our vehicle but my husband instead wished to walk down the Dam slopes😀😀....our driver asked if we were interested for trekking at Eddakal Caves and Chembra peak ....of which we just had no intention to do walking in the hot sun. ....Since its beginning of summer in South India , all waterfalls had dried up so we had no option rather to quit visiting those places instead we opted for KURUVA ISLAND, which is a newly added location on tourist map of Wayanad.
KURUVA ISLAND comprises of 3 islands which are uninhabited  and few submergible islands covering an area of 146.01 hectares in the middle of Kabini river. The KURUVA  ISLAND is a tropical evergreen forest representing unique vegetation with rich biodiversity. It's the only compact protected uninhabited island in Wayanad.
One has to cross the Kabini river by bamboo floating boat to the island and the trek around....We spend almost an hour inside the KURUVA ISLAND. ..No package water bottles or food items / packs are allowed to be taken inside the island ...one needs good pair of shoes and sun gear to walk thru the forested areas....it was almost 2pm when we crossed over to the other bank of Kabini where our vehicle was parked ..  my husband asked Leela hotel driver to take us to any place where we can have authentic Kerala cuisine of this region....our driver took us to his friends place close to KURUVA, where we luckily relish awesome local homemade lunch....
Little away from where we had our lunch is the TRIBAL MUSEUM,  though a small one but neatly displaced ..... 
We were totally exausted by the heat and humid climate there and just asked  the driver to push off to the resort instead.

My WAYANAD Story....series 1.

The word Wayanad is derived from Vayal Nadu , means " The land of Paddy Field"...It's a picturesque plateau nested amongst the mountains of the western ghats on the eastern portion of North kerala state.it is known as Pepper & Coffee belt....Kalpetta is the headquarters  of Wayanad. Nearest Rly head and airport is at Kozikode.
   Places to see at Wayanad :
1.Wayanad wild life sanctuary.
2.Chembra Peak.
3.Edakkal Cave.
4.Banasura Sagar Dam.
5.lakkidi view point.
6.Meenmuthy falls.
7.Pookot lake.
8Soochipara falls.
9.Kuruva island.
10. Tribal museum
11. Vythiri.

My story.....
It was the Holi holiday ie 12th Mar 2017 , after Darshan at Guruvuyur Sri Krishna temple at Trissur  we drove 172.4kms  to kozikode, and after lunch head off for Wayanad  , which is 85.8kms from Calicut by road....We were looking out for booking at Vythiri village resort but could not get ,....it's alway a rush at the Tree resort , .....instead we got Villa  booking at Vythiri Meadows for 2 N stay at  wayanad.
The drive off to Wayanad is picturesque. ...it's better to have a hired vehicle that gives lot of comfort for the travellers to give stopover at locations during the ghat climb. ....it was almost evening by the time we reach our resort at Vythiri; it started chilling too .....we just loved the weather ,the dense jungle across and the fresh air .....

PICNICING AT MALSHEJ GHAT IN HEAVY RAINS.

Rainy season is the best time to make a visit to Malshej ghat. ...it's some 100 kms off navi mumbai in Maharashtra. Visiting Malshej ghat in heavy showers was alway on my agenda but couldn't make it so far....Finally last week as it started pouring very heavily  , we could not resist the idea to go on a drive but was not sure about eateries there , so instead thought to prepare lunch and carry it along with us and then enjoy the food amidst the ghats.....
We were bit late to start from home, so got stuck up in traffic jam as we entered mumbai -Pune highway at Vashi crossing itself in Navi Mumbai. .....then we crossed over to Vashi-Airole side taking cut to drive towards Mahape. ....Road was full of traffic all across ...above that it was raining heavily. ...After Mahape , took towards Selphata onto kalyan and then onto malshej ghat road. .....road upto kalyan was very hochpoch , without Google guiding us ,would have stuck up in traffic only .....it's almost a straight road after crossing Kalyan towards Murbad onto malshej ghat . .......we were driving almost above 100kms/hr speak. ...almost empty road and rains lashing over us left and right ....it was just fun ......almost a 100kms we drove thru before we reach the ghats .....it was chilling cold outside. ..Saw young people soaking in the rains by small gushing streams flowing down the ghats....hardly any good/ proper eateries on the way...Good that I took our food along...The ghats were all in the clouds. .....Half way into the ghats ,the district authorities closed the road as rocks were rolling down from the ghat zone onto the national highway.....so we had to take an U turn from there.....stopped in a beautiful location .....now it's picnic type ....once just felt to soak in the rains but it was quite chilling so instead we put on the heater of our vehicle and started enjoying our home made lunch ....mast Alu parathas with achaar, fruits , cranberry juice ....maza agiya......what more do anyone require. ...good food , awesome weather and chill in the air ......JUST LOVED IT.
     After sometimes we thought to get off the ghats  as we intended to stop at some nice locations for some photo opts. .....it was pouring nonstop as we started off on our return journey. .......After coming out of the ghat zone , we thought to skip off kalyan route instead, and opted for another route Murbad - Badlapur  via BARVI Reserve forest .....it had been a very good decision indeed......Dense jungle and we were loving the drive ....often I whispered to my husband, the road looks so scarry, if in any case some dangerous animal come onto our way.....ha ha ha .......it's really a lovely drive .....after along drive thru Barvi reserve forest finally we reach onto a road that lead us to Lodha's Dombivilli property. ..then onto shelphata -Mahape and navi mumbai. .......
Just loved the drive in the rains ...what an experience  indeed.